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It appears that this performance will not take place. Minister Medinsky and General Director Urin may have been negotiating a special "farewell" performance for Tsiskaridze, but it appears that no one actually asked Tsiskaridze whether he was interested. (Tsiskaridze's online fan base always suspected as much.) He says that he no longer wishes to dance; he's now studying to become a lawyer. In the meantime, though, I'm sure the scalpers have made a killing selling tickets to the December 31 performance on the basis of rumors that Tsiskaridze would perform. http://izvestia.ru/news/559251 http://www.itar-tass.com/c17/921215.html

No, I'm afraid they haven't been seen in the U.S. for several years. Unless you live close enough to the border to cross into Quebec, you're out of luck.

By way of a P.S. The ROH has found an alternate distributor for its opera productions in the U.S. The participating cinemas are not distributed all that evenly throughout the country, and all of the offerings will be pre-recorded. http://www.screenvision.com/cinema-events/roh/

Of course. I was thinking only of the current lot.

As enjoyable as the klezmer band was, it had little to do with classical music, which is what Perlman was supposed to represent. Dramatic theater got the shortest end of the stick: a song by...Josh Groban. I won't say more about the program because I'd have to violate my new if-you-can't-say-anything-nice resolution. (But the next time PBS tries to rope me in with the promise of something special, I'm not going to waste my time.) The "festival" is predictably very low on "high" art, and there's no dance at all. http://www.pbs.org/arts/pbs-arts-festival/2013-pbs-arts-fall-festival/

Amazon is taking pre-orders. From what I can make out on the back cover, the ballet was filmed in 2000, directed by Thomas Grimm, produced by Jane Seymour and made by Reiner Moritz (RM) Associates.

Certainly by row G and further back the conductor would not be in your way.

May I ask why you prefer to sit off center? I'm partial to aisle seats myself for all sorts of reasons. I recently had an aisle seat on the house-right side of the ROH orchestra stalls, and I'd have to note that my view of the downstage left corner was obscured slightly by those sitting in front of me. But I fell in love with row G smack-dab center. I know that many say the rake in the front part of the orchestra is insufficiently steep, but I had no problems whatsoever. For reference, I am 5'9" tall without an exceptionally long torso. A man of equal height would probably sit higher in his seat and have even fewer problems seeing. The only thing I'd add is that this row is in line with the side entrances to the auditorium, so the green lights above the doors will be in range of your peripheral vision. Nevertheless, I decided that, assuming I can afford the ticket price, it's the row for me.

The very first time I saw a ballet broadcast into a movie theater I found out about it purely by accident: I saw a poster in a multiplex lobby, and that was extremely fortunate, because I hardly ever go to the movies. Maybe once or twice a year. The screenings are not advertised in playbills at local ballet performances, and apparently they're not advertised to ballet schools either. That's a real shame, because in comparison to the opera or theater series, the dance series here is the only one that offers a substantially lower ticket price for children. (There weren't any children at yesterday's screening, but then it was a weeknight, and the performance ran long into the evening.) It shouldn't be up to us rank-and-file ballet watchers to try and spread the word. My reach certainly isn't sufficient to have much impact.

When watching Acosta's new choreography of the gypsy camp scene I thought of a lite version of Mats Ek's Carmen. In any case, it seems we're agreed that it doesn't work. If you dislike John Lanchberry's treatment of the score, you probably won't like what Martin Yates has done to it either. I think the re-orchestration makes a mess of everything, with melodies now obscured under layers of "orchestral color," and trumpets popping out at all sorts of inopportune places. Amour's variation gets the worst of it. But despite the overhaul, the interpolated bits from La Bayadère sound as out of place as ever. While I agree with Cristian on most points, I disagree about the sets. I thought the street scene was particularly problematic. The backdrop consists of a series of undersized building facades, which presumably were intended to give an illusion of great depth, and for all I know the effect may work in the theater. But in a two-dimensional video image I thought it flopped. It gave the impression of a set from a student production, as though the ballet were being performed in a theater that wasn't equipped with proper flies for proper backdrops. I agree that the costumes in the dream sequence are pretty awful. The tutu of the Queen of the Dryads seems to have been inspired by the hat Princess Anne wore to her brother Charles' first wedding; every other dancer got stuck with the same basic idea in different colors. And it is a real shame that Amour has been deprived of her accoutrements. Without them it's not entirely clear what she's doing in the scene. But there was a lot to admire from some of the dancers, especially Marianela Nuñez, who probably possesses the most universal technique in ballet; there are no weak areas. And I was very pleasantly surprised by Carlos Acosta. The last time I saw him he didn't perform as strongly. All 40-years-olds should dance this well. I thought that Beatriz Stix-Brunell as one of Kitri's girlfriends had a lot of style, and I liked Bennet Gartside's Gamache. But I was also underwhelmed by Ryoichi Hirano's Espada, especially since his posse of toreros included dancers like Valeri Hristov, Johannes Stepanek, Eric Underwood and Dawid Trzensimiech. I didn't care for the reworked prologue and thought the casting of the always striking Christina Arestis as Dulcinea was a mistake; she managed to make the rather tall Christopher Saunders appear not tall by comparison. The ballet did seems to take a long time to get going, and the onstage whooping and hollering sounded forced. Right now I'm inclined to give the production three stars out of five, but I think many of the shortcomings can be fixed. Start with the music!

I'd guess it's a reference to the Spartak soccer team.

Sadly, this is not relevant for most North Americans, but the December 16 cinema broadcast of the Paris Opera Ballet's Sleeping Beauty is scheduled to star Eleonora Abbagnato and Mathieu Ganio. In addition to a number of French and German cinemas, the ballet will be shown in a smattering of Austrian, Belgian and Italian cinemas, and at six movie theaters in Quebec. http://www.fraprod.fr/offre_cinema.php?id=91 http://www.operadeparis.fr/saison_2013_2014/Ballets/la-belle-au-bois-dormant/decouvrir/distribution-la-belle-au-bois-dormant/

If this interview with Carlos Acosta has been posted elsewhere on the board, my apologies. http://www.pointemagazine.com/issues/octobernovember-2013/new-side-carlos-acosta

This trailer was made for domestic consumption without subtitles, but the video shows Anna Nikulina rehearsing Phrygia in Spartacus with Lyudmila Semenyaka. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do4LjPcezAw The cast list for Sunday's broadcast: http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/47/roles/#20131020190000 Some relevant distributor links A listing of distributors by country: http://www.pathelive.com/fr/bolshoi-worldwide U.S. cinema listings, plus some background articles: http://www.emergingpictures.com/titles/spartacus-bolshoi-ballet/ A list of Carmike Cinemas showing the ballet: http://www.carmike.com/Showtimes/movie/3031 Canada (1pm local time): http://www.cineplex.com/Events/DanceSeries/Home.aspx UK: http://tickets.picturehouseentertainment.co.uk/gb/bolshoiballet/ France: http://www.pathelive.com/fr/sp/spectacles/spartacus

It's not the most Christmassy DVD, but Kultur is releasing the Joffrey Ballet's film of Kurt Jooss' The Green Table on December 17, and that is fantastic news. http://www.kultur.com/The-Green-Table-Kurt-Jooss-p/d4920.htm

According to his Bolshoi bio, Denis Rodkin is now under the tutelage of Yuri Vladimirov, whose most prominent pupil is Dmitry Gudanov.

March is a long way away, but the Royal Ballet has announced that its broadcast of The Sleeping Beauty is to star Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae. http://www.roh.org.uk/showings/sleeping-beauty-2014

The remaining mixed bill casting is up. Program B OPENING NIGHT – Saturday, October 19 – 2:00PM Trio Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Martin West Mathilde Froustey*, Joan Boada Dana Genshaft, Ruben Martin Cintas Damian Smith* Frances Chung, Taras Domitro INTERMISSION Ghosts Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon Composer: C.F. Kip Winger Conductor: Martin West Maria Kochetkova, Vitor Luiz Lorena Feijoo, Ruben Martin Cintas, Shane Wuerthner INTERMISSION Suite en Blanc Choreographer: Serge Lifar Composer: Édouard Lalo Conductor: Martin West Vanessa Zahorian, Tiit Helimets, Sofiane Sylve [This, no doubt, is a mistake; it ought to be a second male dancer] Frances Chung, Esteban Hernandez*, Francisco Mungamba, Wei Wang, Lonnie Weeks Sarah Van Patten Davit Karapetyan Yuan Yuan Tan, Tiit Helimets Sofiane Sylve Program A – Saturday, October 19 – 8:00PM Trio Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Martin West Vanessa Zahorian, Vitor Luiz Sarah Van Patten, Tiit Helimets Anthony Spaulding Maria Kochetkova, Davit Karapetyan INTERMISSION Ghosts Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon Composer: C.F. Kip Winger Conductor: Martin West Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith Sofiane Sylve, Tiit Helimets, Shane Wuerthner INTERMISSION Borderlands Choreographer: Wayne McGregor Composer: Joel Cadbury and Paul Stoney Conductor: Martin West Maria Kochetkova, Jaime Garcia Castilla Sarah Van Patten, Pascal Molat Frances Chung, Carlos Quenedit Sofiane Sylve, Anthony Spaulding Koto Ishihara, Lonnie Weeks Elizabeth Powell, Francisco Mungamba Program D OPENING MATINEE – Sunday, October 20 – 2:00PM Suite en Blanc Choreographer: Serge Lifar Composer: Édouard Lalo Conductor: Ming Luke Mathilde Froustey, Vitor Luiz, Davit Karapetyan Simone Messmer*, Esteban Hernandez, Francisco Mungamba, Wei Wang, Lonnie Weeks Vanessa Zahorian Taras Domitro Yuan Yuan Tan, Tiit Helimets INTERMISSION From Foreign Lands Choreographer: Alexei Ratmansky Composer: Moritz Moszkowski Conductor: Ming Luke Russian: Sasha De Sola, Jaime Garcia Castilla Frances Chung, Gennadi Nedvigin Italian: Joan Boada, Mathilde Froustey*, Dana Genshaft, Dores Andre German: Jennifer Stahl, Anthony Spaulding*, Luke Ingham, Lonnie Weeks Spanish: Frances Chung, Joan Boada Mathilde Froustey, Gennadi Nedvigin Polish: Jennifer Stahl, Sasha De Sola, Dores Andre, Dana Genshaft Jaime Garcia Castilla, Anthony Spaulding, Luke Ingham, Lonnie Weeks* INTERMISSION Symphonic Dances Choreographer: Edwaard Liang Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov Conductor: Martin West Frances Chung, Jaime Garcia Castilla Sarah Van Patten, Anthony Spaulding Lorena Feijoo, Vitor Luiz

PDF versions of the program for the screening are now available on the ROH site. In addition to English, they are available in German, Spanish, French, Italian and Dutch. http://www.roh.org.uk/showings/don-quixote-2013

According to Mathilde Froustey's Twitter feed, she will dance in Trio at the October 19 matinee, and in Suite en Blanc and From Foreign Lands on the 20th. https://twitter.com/MFroustey

Casting for three of the mixed rep performances has yet to be posted. Don't despair just yet.

For Francophones. On the eve of her official retirement, Agnès Letestu was interviewed on the midday news today. http://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/les-adieux-dagnes-letestu-etoile-eternelle-143075

Many of the dances are re-ordered in sequence, invariably to the detriment of the drama. But nearly all of the bits are still there, except the mime, of course. Your approach of going in order to see the dancers is absolutely the correct one. But it might still be a good idea to watch the production in advance on video, just to get the shocks behind you. Otherwise you may find yourself so distracted by the irrationalities of the staging that you won’t be able to enjoy the performances fully.

The DVD and Blu-ray versions of the Royal Ballet's 'Ashton Celebration,' which includes La Valse, Meditation from Thais, Voices of Spring, Monotones I & II and Marguerite and Armand, with Tamara Rojo and Sergei Polunin, will hit the North American market on October 29. Amazon is taking pre-orders. LA VALSE - Hikaru Kobayashi, Ryoichi Hirano, Samantha Raine, Bennet Gartside, Helen Crawford, Brian Maloney ‘MEDITATION’ FROM THAÏS - Leanne Benjamin, Valeri Hristov VOICES OF SPRING - Yuhui Choe, Alexander Campbell MONOTONES I AND II - Emma Maguire, Akane Takada, Dawid Trzensimiech; Marianela Nuñez, Edward Watson, Nehemiah Kish MARGUERITE AND ARMAND - Tamara Rojo, Sergei Polunin, Christopher Saunders. Gary Avis The performer information on the Opus Arte site does not match the DVD's jacket, but the site does provide a trailer for Marguerite and Armand. http://www.opusarte.com/details/OA1116D#.UlQ5RBBl1i1

There also used to be a lot more government and non-profit money around. Those Royal Ballet tours were paid for partly by the British Council. However, corporate money was also an important factor. The company was forced to cancel its U.S. tour in 1990 when Barclays Bank balked. I was relying on an old article from the International Journal of Arts Management. Apparently a 50% increase in ticket prices was part of the plan all along. If the company found that it had overestimated ticket demand, then naturally it made little sense to give that many performances. The current total of 77 performances in Toronto (if I've counted correctly), including 23 of The Nutcracker, falls in between the old Hummingbird total and the initial Four Seasons projection. ABT also seldom sells out the Met, so it's entirely possible that its audience could fit into a smaller venue without increasing dramatically its number of performances. But what makes very little sense to me is ABT and NYCB continuing to compete head-to-head when neither is filling up their venue.